Wednesday, March 11, 2020
The findings are contained in a 63-page report submitted to lawmakers Wednesday by a commission created in 2017 to study law enforcement interactions with people in mental health crisis.
Members of the Vermont Mental Health Crisis Response Commission were split in their assessment of how officers handled the hours-long standoff with the 76-year-old Grenon in his Burlington apartment. But the report vividly recounts the months of communication breakdowns and inadequate health care that precipitated Grenon's fatal encounter with police.
"If there's one thing that's clear to me from this, it's that his death was preventable," said commission chair Wilda White, former executive director of Vermont Psychiatric Survivors. "This was so preventable."
Tags: Phil Grenon , Ralph Grenon , Howard Center , Burlington Police Department , Wilda White , Vermont Mental Health Crisis Response Commission , police shooting , mental health , Web Only , Image
Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington), the bill’s sponsor, said the idea is part of a nationwide movement toward a criminal justice system that recognizes the "risk of the individual rather than the offense."
"As horrible as murder is, and certainly consequences should be severe, there are certain folks that do commit murders who may not be [as much of] a risk to reoffend as other people who commit other heinous crimes," Sears said.
Tags: life without parole , criminal justice , Sen. Dick Sears , murder , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
The bill in question, S.47, was originally drafted to prohibit corporations from making direct donations to Vermont candidates and political parties. It passed the Senate last March by a vote of 21 to 5 but languished in the House thereafter.
A year later, the House Committee on Government Operations is poised to approve the bill later this week — with one major change: It would continue to allow political parties to accept corporate contributions.
"My intent is to make sure that we're limiting the influence that corporations have over elected officials after they become elected officials," said Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford), who chairs the committee. Banning corporate contributions to parties, she argued, was not necessary because those would result in "less of a direct connection" between donors and lawmakers.
Tags: Campaign finance reform , corporate contributions , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Terje Anderson , Josh Wronski , Chris Pearson , Phil Scott , Rebecca Kelley , Web Only , Image
Monday, March 9, 2020
For four days a week, people from every Vermont county converge inside the Montpelier building, where they spend most of their time brushing elbows in cramped hallways and stuffy committee rooms.
"It is close quarters, long hours and an old building with an old air-handling system — with a lot of members of the public," summarized House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero).
These people then head back to their own communities with whatever germs they may have picked up along the way. That's partly why Rep. Sam Young (D-Greensboro) calls the Statehouse the "perfect place" for the virus to spread.
Tags: coronavirus , Vermont Statehouse , Golden Dome , Mitzi Johnson , Tim Ashe , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Rep. Anne Donahue (R-Northfield), who proposed the amendment, told her colleagues on the House floor that allowing cannabis advertisements goes against what she believes is the bill's main intent.
"The purpose of the bill is safety for current users," Donahue said. "If there are more people who start using because they see ads, that means there are more people potentially on the highway driving impaired; there are more children exposed — the negative things that we don't want to see happening."
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , S.54 , pot bill , advertising , First Amendment , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
S.54, which passed the Senate last year, will come up for a formal third reading Thursday before heading to a conference committee, where lawmakers from both chambers will reconcile differences between their two versions. Those include varying tax structures, competing philosophies on local control and different approaches to highway safety. The bill will then head back for another vote in both chambers.
Vermont legislators legalized the possession and cultivation of limited amounts of weed in 2018, but not sales. Supporters of S.54 say that creating a regulatory framework will better protect consumers while bringing in tax revenue.
"What we have now in place isn’t working, and this bill is an important step forward for our state," said House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington), who noted most of her constituents support the measure.
Tags: cannabis , S.54 , Vermont House , tax-and-regulate , Cannabeat , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Vermont House lawmakers voted 100-49 Tuesday to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a minimum wage increase, handing Democratic leaders a razor-thin and much-needed legislative win.
With the Senate voting last week to override the Republican governor’s veto, the bill now becomes law, having achieved the two-thirds majority necessary in the 150-member House. It will hike the current minimum wage of $10.96 per hour to $11.75 in 2021 and to $12.55 in 2022 before increases will again be tied to inflation.
“Today's vote reaffirms the legislature’s commitment to Vermont’s working families,” said House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) in a statement. House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) shared that sentiment.
“This is a really good day for hardworking Vermonters who deserve and need a raise in their wages,” she said.
Tags: Vermont House , minimum wage , veto override , paid leave , House leadership , Mitzi Johnson , Web Only , Image
Monday, February 24, 2020
The House Appropriations Committee voted 6-5 in favor of advancing S.54 to the full House, where lawmakers expect to take up the measure Wednesday.
If it passes, it would then head to a conference committee, where House and Senate negotiating teams would seek to reconcile their versions of the bill, which offer different tax structures and competing philosophies on how much local control should be given to municipalities.
Tags: Cannabeat , S.54 , cannabis , marijuana , Vermont House , Appropriations , Web Only , Image
Friday, February 21, 2020
The powerful House Ways and Means Committee stripped from a bill proposed fee increases meant to pay an estimated $600,000 annually for a centralized, professional review board that would have taken over many responsibilities of volunteer local review panels.
“I don’t think the new professional board is a good idea,” said Janet Ancel (D-Calais), chair of the committee. “I think it's overly expensive, I think it will reduce access to the process, and I think it will result in more lawyering up.”
Even members of the House committee that voted last week in favor of the proposal seemed content to let it collapse.
Tags: Act 250 , Janet Ancel , Amy Sheldon , Web Only , Image
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Legislators favored the Global Warming Solutions Act by a vote of 105 to 37 — a strong showing for a bill that Republican Gov. Phil Scott has warned would put the state in unnecessary legal jeopardy.
Supporters praised H.688 as leverage to ensure that the state meets emission-reduction targets that it has missed for years.
“(The bill) creates a strong and effective path to cut pollution and will increase climate resilience for all of our communities,” said Majority Leader Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington).
Tags: climate change , Rep. Tim Briglin , Global Warming Solutions Act , Web Only , Image